The present invention is directed to the art of building construction and, more particularly, to a metal multiple truss hanger connector for connecting a pair of supported wood members to a supporting wood member.
In the art of building construction, and particularly with respect to the construction of the frame structure of a building roof, metal connectors have been provided for assisting in connecting wooden members to each other. For example, in a hip roof structure, a pair of trusses, such as a hip truss and an end jack truss, may be connected to a header or girder which acts as a supporting member for the other two trusses. In such an application, the end jack truss is typically oriented at an angle of 90.degree. with respect to the girder and the hip truss is typically oriented at an angle which is skewed relative to both the end jack truss as well as the girder. The hip truss may be skewed on the left side or the right side of the end jack truss.
Connectors have been known in the prior art for connecting the hip truss and the end jack truss to the girder so that the girder serves as the supporting member and the hip truss and end jack truss are the supported members. Such prior art connectors have included a multiple pocket hanger structure with each pocket serving to carry one truss and with each pocket being welded to a back plate which may, in turn, be fastened to a header or girder for supporting the trusses. One such structure is known as the BHT terminal hanger available from Cleveland Steel Specialty Company. Such a welded structure is costly and cannot be used with light gauge metal due to welding limitations.
Another connecter known in the art for connecting a hip truss and a jack truss to a girder takes the form of a product known as the HJ hip and jack truss hanger, also available from Cleveland Steel Specialty Company. Two pockets are welded to a backplate with the backplate adapted to be mounted to a girder or the like. One pocket receives a jack truss and the other pocket is skewed relative to the first pocket and the backplate and serves to receive a hip truss. Builders employing such a product must have an inventory of hip and jack truss hangers with some having the hip bucket skewed to the left and others having a hip bucket skewed to the right.
A single piece, nonwelded hip and jack connector is known in the prior art as the THJ truss hip and jack connector and is available from Simpson Strong-Tie Company, Inc. That connector is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,359. That connector includes a jack pocket receiving a jack member and a skewed hip pocket for receiving a hip member together with a backplate or flange so that the connector may be secured to a header or girder for supporting the hip member and the jack member. A builder utilizing such a connector will require an inventory of connectors, some of which have a hip pocket skewed to the left, and others of which have a hip pocket skewed to the right.
The prior art also includes a product known as a THM multiple truss hanger supplied by Simpson Strong-Tie Company, Inc. This product includes a truss hanger having three pockets, each for receiving a wooden member so that a central member is received along with two additional members each skewed by 45.degree. relative to the central member. The structure is complex in that builders frequently require that two supported members be connected to a supporting member with one of the supported members being skewed relative to the other and, hence, only a two-pocket arrangement, such as the Simpson THJ truss hip jack connector is desired in either a lefthand arrangement or a righthand arrangement.
It is desirable, therefore, to provide a universal connector which takes the form of a single piece, nonwelded hip and jack connector which may be used to connect a jack member and a hip member, skewed either to the left or to the right, with the connector having flanges for flush mounting against a header or girder for supporting the hip and jack members.